The present invention relates to authenticated cards and, more particularly, to authenticated cards which overcome a major problem associated with scratchable cards, i.e., fraudulent forgery of such cards.
There are many applications where vendors offer services and/or benefits based on a card that holds a card unique data, such as a number or a code. In such cases, after the card is purchased at a point-of-sale by a card holder, the card unique data is exposed by scratching off a top scratchable layer that covers the data. Using the data thus revealed enables the card holder to make use of the card by quoting the exposed data to the card vendor or its representative. Examples of such cards include, but are not limited to, lottery tickets, pre-paid phone and internet cards and various card game applications.
Typically, the validity of such a prior art card expires when the cost of service or benefit used by the card holder is equivalent to the amount of currency paid by the card holder upon purchasing it. Thus, careful bookkeeping allows the vendor to notify the card holder of a card no longer useful. Such an exhausted card is typically discarded by the user.
In some cases, such discarded cards are unlawfully collected for felonious xe2x80x9crecyclingxe2x80x9d and are reintroduced to the market as new cards by deceptively re-covering the exposed card unique data by a fresh top scratchable layer.
In other cases, new, yet unsold, cards are tampered with (scratched) in order to make use of the card unique data. Such cards are than also re-covered by a fresh top scratchable layer and sold to card holders.
There is thus a widely recognized need for, and it would be highly advantageous to have, novel authenticated cards devoid of the above limitations, which novel authenticated cards are much more difficult to forge.
According to the present invention there is provided an authenticated card comprising a flat card body being formed with at least one region thereon being irreversibly transformable from a first state into a second state, the second state being identifiable by a card holder as different from the first state.
According to further features in preferred embodiments of the invention described below, the at least one region includes an electro-chromic substance capable of irreversibly changing its color as a response to an electrical potential.
According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments the authenticated card further comprising an integrated power source, such that activating the power source to exert the electrical potential results in irreversible change in color of the electro-chromic substance.
According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments the electro-chromic substance is selected from the group consisting of Indium-Tin-Oxide and Indium-Antimony-Tin-Oxide.
According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments the electro-chromic substance encodes card unique data which becomes irreversibly visible to a card holder when the electro-chromic substance changes its color as a response to the electrical potential.
According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments the at least one region includes a heatable element capable of irreversibly changing an appearance of the at least one region when heated.
According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments the authenticated card further comprising an integrated power source, such that activating the power source to heat the heatable element results in irreversible change in appearance of the at least one region.
According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments the heatable element is selected from the group consisting of a resistor, a conductor and a semiconductor.
According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments the heatable element encodes card unique data which becomes irreversibly visible to a card holder when the heatable element is heated.
According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments the integrated power source includes a capacitor which can be discharged.
According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments the integrated power source includes a flexible thin layer open liquid state electrochemical cell.
According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments the integrated power source includes an inducible power source.
According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments the inducible power source includes a piezoelectric component which is mechanically inducible.
According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments the inducible power source is a radiofrequency inducible power source.
According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments the at least one region includes a photo-chromic substance capable of irreversibly changing its color as a response to lighting in a predefined wavelength.
According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments the photo-chromic substance is selected from the group consisting of Oxazine and Naphthopyran.
According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments the photo-chromic substance encodes card unique data which becomes irreversibly visible to a card holder when the electro-chromic substance changes its color as a response to the lighting.
According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments the at least one region includes a thermo-chromic substance capable of irreversibly changing its color as a response to external heating.
According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments wherein the thermo-chromic substance is M2HgI4, where M is selected from the group consisting of Ag(I) and Cu(I).
According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments the thermo-chromic substance encodes card unique data which becomes irreversibly visible to a card holder when the electro-chromic substance changes its color as a response to the external heating.
According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments the card is selected from the group consisting of a prepaid card and a lottery card.
According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments the at least one region includes a first region which serves solely for authentication and a second region which serves for disclosing card unique data.
According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments each of the first and second regions is independently irreversibly transformable from the first state into the second state.
The present invention successfully addresses the shortcomings of the presently known configurations by providing a card which is much less forgeable as is compared with prior art scratchable cards.